Recruitment of surrogate mothers

Starting a Surrogacy Program is a one of the most important decisions that a couple can make. This journey consists of few steps, which are interconnected and need to be strictly followed.

One of these steps is finding an appropriate surrogate mother for the Intended Parents. In our article we want to talk about the way we recruit surrogate mothers for our couples.

Surrogate mother for every couple

We think that it is relevant for our future couples to know how we find and choose a surrogate mother for them. There are few steps according to which we choose and introduce our potential surrogate mothers. Unlike other agencies or companies we don’t have a static database of Surrogate mothers. It is not convenient to keep a static database because of some reason, for example, surrogate mothers are registered in different agencies and at moment of calling a specific candidate she may be unavailable, for example if she has not been checked by a doctor, there are possibilities that she is not able to participate in the program for medical reasons, and in this case the candidate would to be dropped and even she may not be interested in surrogacy anymore or enrolled in another surrogacy program with another couple.

As we said, the opinion of our couples really makes sense for us, that is why we find a surrogate mother according to they wish. We will give to every couple the possibility to chose among 3 candidates that have been previously checked by a doctor with all medical analysis in order and ready to start the program in the shortest time. To recruit at least 3 candidates for a given couple usually takes not more than 3 weeks and can start before the arrival of the intended parents once they have confirmed their arrival and bought their tickets.

Finding a surrogate

The first thing we do is running an advertisement campaign to find potential surrogate mothers, who are 21-35 years old, are completely healthy  and have at least one child.

 After collecting their health and personal data by the use of questionnaires we take our potential surrogate mothers to our reproductologist specialist in surrogate mothers’ health and pregnancy potential in order to check their health condition, endometrium thickness, internal organs, and psychological health. Ultrasound of endometrium is the first-line imaging test to evaluate it. After the ultrasound of the uterus and especially of the endometrium, it is possible to conclude if the potential candidate can become a surrogate mother or not for the Intended Couple. The next step we take is to check other important organs such are:

• Heart
• Breast tissues
•  kidneys
•  Liver
•  Gallbladder

And of course we make blood tests, PAP test, Torch, tests for several infections and check the BMI (Body-Mass Index) of the potential surrogate mother. If the BMI is greater than 30, unfortunately it is not a good result. So, it needs to be less than 30. We do it, because overweight may become an obstacle for our couples and surrogate mothers to start the program. That is why we take every detail into our consideration to avoid further problems.

Other tests

Besides making medical tests, our surrogate mothers meet with a psychologist, and after having a conversation with them our psychologist will confirm if they are psychologically ready to become a surrogate mother and if they understand what it means to give birth to an unknown couples’ child.

Finally having all medical and psychological test results in our hands, we introduce three surrogate mother candidates to our couple and wait for their answer.

We know that it is not easy to choose and trust an unknown person to take care of your child during 9 months, but you can be sure that you, your child and the bright future of your family are in the hands of our professional, experienced and caring doctors and staff.

Don’t hesitate to contact us if any questions appear. We would be very happy to help you in starting your surrogacy program with us and find the best surrogate mother for you!

Author: Knarik Margaryan, coordinator of Georgian unit